wonderful bits of joe

Getting ready for Ironman 70.3 St. George Utah, we met down in Long Beach to stage a race rehearsal. Awesome place to Swim, Bike, and Run.

Swim: 1 mile (1870 yds), 37 min moving time.

We started with a 1 mile swim at Belmont Shores Beach. The water was cold. My hands and face got kinda numb. And my right ear had a moment. Before the swim, I met a fan of The Journey movie, and we took a selfie. He thought I had lost weight since the movie. Hmmmm, not true, but thanks… We had a great turn out for the open water swim. Mark braved the water with a big cut on his finger. Jeff and Jezz swam open water for the first time! We had the special joy of having Scott joining us, fresh off Boston Marathon. Scott was the human turn-around-buoy at half mile point. Thanks, Scott.

Bike: 40.2 miles, 2:09 moving time, 397 ft elevation

We transitioned to our bike stuff back at the van. Then, we rode up the San Gabriel River Trail. The weather didn’t warm up, and we had head winds on the return trip. Thank you, Steve! For letting me borrow his extra jacket. 20 miles up and flip it. The flip it came up right after the Tunnel of Doom. A Steep down, super dark, narrow tunnel, with big scary gutters on both sides, and blind to the exit.

Run. 7.2 miles, 1:28 moving time

T2 and into our run gear. I headed around the canals. Beautiful homes and perfect running weather. Others headed out the water front and running along the beach.